Introduction

June 9th, 2006 at 04:21 pm

I am not an extremely frugal person; I refuse, for instance, to wash and reuse ziploc bags, However, I do like to save money wherever I can. I am the daughter of a very frugal man who left brand-new shirts in his drawers when he died because he hadn't yet worn out the ones he was wearing, and who was comfortable shopping at rummage sales for old radios (he had dozens) and used books (he had thousands). Saving's in my blood. The one thing I wish my dad had taught me was the magic of compounding and how to invest. All I ever saved for once I got out of college was a down payment on a new car. Somewhere in my mid-thirties it occurred to me that I had absolutely nothing saved for retirement. I bought a house, and it became important to put a little money aside each month in what I call my "house account" to accrue funds for the inevitable improvements and repairs that crop up. I also began to save for retirement at a furious rate, after reading some articles that convinced me that I would be doomed to poverty in my dotage if I didn't start saving. At my current savings rate, I will probably be okay, but everything I read about saving for the future tells me that the earlier you start, the more your account will be worth when you're ready to retire. I'm trying to make up for that lost time. In future posts, I'd like to talk about some of the books and financial authors I have read, and discuss a few strategies that work for me. Some of my methods may not be suitable for everyone: For example, I always pay my credit card bills every month - why pay interest if you don't have to? And you'll never catch me at Starbuck's. I'm too cheap to spend so much money for a cup of coffee. Still, I have picked up some great suggestions over the years, so I'm going to jump in and post some here in future blogs.

Welcome! I have always paid my credit cards, I have drunk at Starbucks but only as a Christmas shopping treat once a year. I am looking forward to your posts too. I also am in my fifties and saving like a mad woman for retirement.

Hello, my name is Cheryl and I drink Starbucks coffee at home and occasionally from the actual brick and mortar outlet. However, I have been known to wash out zip lock bags and we rarely ever eat out! Ha ha, we are all so different in what we do to be frugal or treat ourselves.

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